Thymomas and thymic carcinomas are rare cancers of the thymic epithelium or thymus gland/thymic tissue. Unfortunately, the heterogeneity of the disease and the lack of molecular targets impair the identification of individuals with higher metastatic risk and the potential for early intervention. Currently, complete surgical resection and Masaoka staging are considered the only favorable prognostic factor for these individuals. However, the literature has examples showing that patients with complete surgical resection or Masaoka stage I do metastasize as well as patients with partial surgical resection or Maskaoka stage II or III who do not metastasize. Thus, these two current prognostic standards lead to undertreatment of individuals having early stage disease as well as overtreatment of indolent tumors diagnosed at a later stage.
Although resection and chemotherapy are effective therapies for most individuals with early stage disease, recurrence is common. A significant number of individuals do not receive adjuvant chemo-radiation therapy until they develop recurrent or metastatic disease. As such, there is a need for methods that allow physicians to detect, diagnose and prognose the expected course of a thymic cancer, including the likelihood of recurrence, long-term survival, and the like, as well as allow physicians to select the most appropriate treatment regimen. Additionally, compositions that target novel pathways involved in tumor formation also are needed.